God and their detestable counsels practised against the good also the niggardlines of the rich towards the poore all which are described verie largely of Esdra and Nehemias doo manifest the troubles and miseries of these times The twentieth yere therefore of Artaxerxes Pius walleth Ierusalem finisheth the temple with all his appurtenances to the finishing whereof Nehemias had gotten and obtained stuffe of the King By reason whereof the Iewes say trulie in the second of Iohn and the twentieth verse This Temple was in building fortie and sixe yeares and wilt thou raise it vp againe in three dayes Which trulie the Iewes may be thought to speake as thereby to mention the twentieth yeare of Artaxerxes Pius rather than the sixt yeare of Darius Assyrius For by what reason that place may receiue other construction I vnderstand not vnlesse we will say that Darius Assyrius and 1. â—â—â—axerxes Pius whom by the Scripture we vnderstand to be diuers kings to haue reigned at one time and in the meane time to haue fauoured the people of God and to haue taken that care vpon them because they were deuoted to Religion This not withstanding we shalbe alwaies coÌ„pelled to affirme that the Temple was built in the sixt yeare of Darius Assyrius as it is in Esdras 6. and 15. ver to the complement wherof manie things wanted which were added vnder Artaxerxes Pius vnder whom in his twentieth yere we will say that Ierusalem was fortified as we doo vnderstand out of the 2. of Nehemias the 2. vers and the 6. cap. and 15. ver Wherefore we will thinke and not without reason that the Temple was finished with all his adiuncts which before were wanting vnder Artaxerxes Pius as peraduenture there might bee additions to the Temple for the roomes of the Priests ministring by course in the Tabernacle of the Lord barnes or garners for to lay vp the first fruites and tythes of the Priests And wee may say that the same time the Citie Ierusalem attained her fortification But the place of the Gospel before remembred is not to be past ouer whereby the authoritie of Iosephus Writer of the Iewish storie whom our time too greatly esteemeth of is to be diminished who trulie in manie places sheweth himselfe to be ignoraÌ„t of those things which he handleth and argueth himselfe to be a stranger in his owne Common wealth And it is requisite for this which we haue in hand to shew himto bee scarce aduised and circumspect nay most notable impudent and a liar that we may vnderstaÌ„d that his writings must be more narrowlie lookt into and examined of vs. For he in the 15. booke of the Iewish antiquitie the 14. chapt saith That Herode the sonne of Antipater erected the Temple from the foundation farre more sumptuouslie and largelie than it was and to haue finished it with his additions and gates in eight yeares and a halfe But the Iewes that liued in that age conuince him of lying who casting their eyes to the old building say that that was built in the space of 40 and 6. yeares Besides we know that the secoÌ„d Temple that is that Temple which Zorobabel with Iosua built and the rest of the Companie of the Iewes which returned froÌ„ the captiuitie of Babylon to haue been ouerthrowen subuerted about fortie yeres after the death of Christ with all the pompe of the ceremonies of the lawe which the Iewish Historiographers also doo acknowledge to haue bin done by Titus referring the destruction of the second Temple to the Romanes and their Imperator Titus And wee know by the certaine predictions of the prophets that the same TeÌ„ple stood when Christ Iesus our Lord beeing man conuersed in mount Sion For Aggey saith in the 2. chapt 10. verse That the glorie of the second Temple built by Zorobabel should be farre greater than that was of Salomons Temple looking vnto the presence of Christ the Lord who was therewith to beautefie their Temple Yet if as Iosephus saith Herode had built that Temple in which our Lord was conuersant that should not haue been the second temple but the third the forme whereof shoulde haue been farre otherwise as Ezechiel describeth it in the latter end of his prophecie Therfore manie of our time are to bee condemned of sloth and ignorance who stand so affected to the writings of Iosephus and the like Writers that presentlie they assent vnto them and beleeue those things to be true which are propounded by them the book of the holy scripture in the meane while past ouer and neglected and the diuine histories carelesly read ouer which histories must be first and chieflie learned by the which all other are to bee iudged of examined none but a most vniust iudge will denie But because it is said the second Temple was finished in sixe and fortie yeares and yet neuerthelesse seuen seuens which amounteth vnto fortie nine yeares is assigned to the absolute finishing of the temple therefore it must thus be vnderstood That the Temple was absolutely finished with the Citie walled about in the nine and fortieth yeare after the libertie restored by Cyrus Yet sixe and fortie yeares to be onely bestowed in the building of the temple because three whole yeares were passed before Zorobabel the other which returned out of captiuitie came to doo that worke For after Cyrus Edict published for the libertie and restoring of the people of GOD a great time was requisite to consult of the manner of their returne and for to compell those that should returne and to settle their affaires who determined to leaue Chaldea to retourne to their Countrey Let vs therefore graunt a yere for these matters which being ended let vs admit the Iewes returners to haue begun their iourney the second yeare from the publishing of the Edict and so we shall vnderstand these returners to haue come into their Countrey a yeare and almost a halfe after the Edict of Cyrus For from Babylon to Iudea the iourney to those that haue lets is of foure moneths trauell as it is written in the 7. of Esdr 8. verse in this sort And they came to Ierusalem the fift moneth which is the seuenth yeare of the King because they begun to goe from Babilon in the first day of the first month and came into Ierusalem the first day of the fift moneth according to the good fauour of God towards them Now the foundations of the Temple were not layd as soone as they came to Ierusalem for we read in the third of Esdr and the 8. verse that this was not done till the second yere after their return From wheÌ„ce we gather that there were three yeares from the Edict of Cyrus to the foundations of the Temple laid to the which if we adde sixe and fortie yeares we haue nine and fortie yeares which are assigned to the first seuen seuens which ended and expounded according as they were propounded by the Angel wee must passe
first ioyned league with the Carthaginians After the Kings were exiled Rome the Consulls had ruled the Common-weale eight and twentie yeares before the first passage of Xerxes into Graecia But Rome was in subiection to Kings 243. yeare as Sextus Rufus maketh computation deducting the times of the Kings From that time if you reckon 28. yeare we shall come to the 3. yeare of the 74. Olympiade Now it is manifest and apparant by this that Pausanias and Diodorus Siculus as also Polybius moreouer Dionisius Halicarnasseus who is of their iudgment others who haue likewise noted these times vnto vs haue all erred because Cyrus Maior King of Persia ruled the Kingdome after Darius the Mede in the third yeare of the 80. Olympiade as the times determined by the testimonie of holie Scripture doo conclude And after Cyrus these three Kings succeeded in Persia Assuerus Artaxerxes Darius Assyrius and Artaxerxes Pius But the 20. yeare of Artaxerxes Pius the Temple was whollie restored and it is noted that the Citie Ierusalem was compassed with a wall as afterwards will appeare out of the historie of the seuen first seuens of Daniel But the seuenth seuē which is the limit of this time is ended in the third yeare of the 92. Olympiade Moreouer there is reckoned the 32. yeare of Artaxerxes Puis in the 13. of Nehem and the 6. vers which falleth out in the third yeare of the 95. Olympiade So it appeareth how farre these Writers are from the true obseruing of the times seeing it may seeme that the passing of Xerxes into Graecia was only about the 90. Olympiade because Artaxerxes Pius must haue reigned in Persia before Xerxes the terrour of Graecia as it is apparant out of the Prophecie of Daniel in whose eleuenth chaper and 2. verse it is plainlie said After Cyrus 3. Kings shall rule in Persia before Xerxes who shal trouble all Graecia Yet Xerxes might goe downe into Graecia vnder Artaxerxes Pius when hee was elected King For euen as vnder Cyrus reigned Assuerus so vnder Artaxerxes Xerxes might reigne and the Persian Monarchie euē as the Romanes at one time might haue manie Imperators By this it appeares that the errors admitted by prophane Historiographers and the Chronicles of our time in the supputation of times may be espied and in some part amended But it is requisite for vs for this time to pretermit that care to referre it vnto some other time least by handling of other matters we may seeme to haue forgot our own purpose These things haue been thus laid downe by vs out of the holie Scriptures concerning the Persian Monarchie and the Monarchs of Persia to lay open in some part the truth of the Persian Historie and to purge it from fables But now we are to come to the seuens of Daniel which in the chapter going before we haue taught to haue been deuided by the Angell into three parts yet so as he hath selected seuen out of them hath appointed them to the restoring of the Temple and the Citie Then he dooth enumerate sixtie two in the which the Church of God was afflicted diuerslie In the third place the last which is the seuentieth hath been set downe which hath with it the conclusion and end of all the ceremoniall of the lawe But the seuen forenamed seuens in the first place because they signifie a yearely time doo make fortie and nyne yeres for that number seuen times seuen doth amount vnto the Historie whereof the writings of Nehemias and Esdras doo conteine which the Latins comprehend in one volume so as the booke of Nehemias they call the second booke of Esdras And Ierome in his Episle to Paulinus concerning the books of holy scripture saith that Esdras Nehemias were streightned into one volume from the which this present Historie of seuen seuens or weeks is to be deriued And in the first chapter of Esdras the Edict of Cyrus is laid downe by the which the people of God is restored to his libertie after 70. yeares captiuitie in Babylon The people being returned into their Country the third chapter teacheth that the Altare was first built in the which they offered sacrifices to God which giueth vs also to vnderstand that in the second yeare after the returne into their Countrey the foundations of the temple were laid by Zorobabel the sonne of Salathiel Prince of Iuda and by Iosua the sonne of Iosedeck the high Priest In the fourth chapter Esdras teacheth that the building of the Temple was hindred by the commandement of Assuerus Artaxerxes nor begun again to be builded before the second yeare of Darius Assyrius But in the sixt chapter he sheweth the Temple was finished in the sixt yeare of Darius Assyrius Zorobabel and Iosua imploying and busying themselues chiefely about it being thereunto incited by the Prophets Aggey and Zacharie The Temple being restored and almost finished Zorobabel Prince of Iudea may be thought to die because Esdras is sent to Iuda from the King of Persia as Viceroy with agreat companie of voluntarie Iewes who remained in Chaldea after the Edict of Cyrus and the departure of their Countrey men who beeing by God awakened had rather leaue their wealth in Babylon to liue in their owne countrey than by enioying it to liue in a strange Countrey Yet Esdras is sent to Iudea chiefly to constitute Rulers Iudges who might minister iustice to the people thereby to establish the state of the Iewes Commonweale which is done in the seuenth yeare of Artaxerxes Pius as it is in Esdr the 4. the 24. After Esdras the same Artaxerxes Pius sendeth as his Embassador Nehemias with authoritie and commaundement for couering the gates of the Temple that is for finishing the building of the Temple as also for walling the Citie Ierusalem as it is in 2. Nehem and the 8. Now Nehemias had this Embassage in the twentieth yeare of Artaxerxes Pius as it is in the first verse of the 8. chapter which was 13. yeres after Esdras was sent Embassador to Iuda Yet Nehemias was ruler and protector ouer Iuda 12. yeares as it is declared in the 5. chap. and 14. verse But how great paines Nehemias tooke in fortefying the Citie Ierusalem and compassing it with a wal is declared from the second chapter to the seauenth And in the 6. chapter and 15. vers is declared the great diligence which both hee and the Iewes vsed in fortefying the Citie Ierusalem so great a worke being finished within fiftie and two dayes being the fiue twentieth of the moneth Elul which in our account is August And thus we haue the first seuen seuens fullie ended that is in the twentieth yeare of Artaxerxes Pius in the which Nehemias came to Iuda For so the Angel foretold Dan. chap. 9. verse 25. that to the building againe of streete and walls should be seuen seuens and that in a troublesome time The hostile attempts of the aduersaries of the people of
saluation purchased by Christ the Lord the three and thirtieth yere of his age But that three thirtieth yeare of the Lord vnexpired falleth into the eighteenth Y. of Tiberius Caesar because in the fifteenth yere of Tiberius beginneth the thirtie of the Lord whereby the one and thirtieth yeare of our Lord falleth into the sixteenth yeare of Tiberius and his thirtie two yeare runneth into the seuenteenth yeare of Tiberisn then the three and thirtieth yeare of the Lord must needes be referred to the eighteenth yeare of Tiberius which because they be grounded on the testimonies of holie Scripture and not on the vncertaine opinions of men they appeare to bee true and certaine But that the Lord Iesus Christ accomplished two and thirtie yeares a halfe on earth the auncient Church also acknowledged as reuerent Bed a hath witnessed in his booke of the Nature of things the fortie seuenth chapter whose words are these For the faith of the Church if I am not deceiued embraceth this that the Lord liued in the flesh somewhat more than two and thirtie yeares vnto the time of his passion because he was baptized at thirtie yeres as the Euangelist Luke witnesseth and preached three Y. an halfe after his baptisme as Iohn teacheth in his Gospel not onely by the time of the Passeouer but also in his Reuelation Daniel also in his vision appointeth the very same propheticallie Surely the holy apostolike Church of Rome testifieth that she reckoneth this faith euen by those notes which she vseth yerely to write in her waxe things where calling into the peoples minde the time of the Lords passion noteth alwaies three and thirtie yeare lesse than Dionysius reckoneth from his incarnation These things Beda deliuereth of the age of the Lord Iesus But I am ignorant what place of the Reuelation teacheth it but we may think that this was confessed in olde time by some receiued Cabala or tradition Eusebius in his 8. booke second chapter of the demonstration of the Gospell confirmeth this saying Surely it hath been recorded in written Storie that all the time of the teaching and dooing of miracles of our Sauiour was three yeares and a halfe which is truly the halfe of one seauen In a sort Iohn the Euangelist will declare this to them who shall attentiuely consider his Gospell Thus farre Eusebius Afterwards Abbas Vspergensis saith in the life of Tiberius The three and thirtieth yeare of his incarnation our Lord Iesus suffered in his flesh and rose again Also Nicephorus Callistus concludeth the first booke of his histories thus This first booke of histories conteineth three thirtie yeres the beginning taken from the two and fortieth yere of the reigne of Augustus Caesar now wexing old in the which our Lord Iesus Christ with flesh came foorth of the holie Virgine but the ende ending in the eighteenth yeare of Tiberius Caesars reigne which truly is from the creatiō of the world 5538. but was from the birth of our Lord three and thirtie These out of manie may suffice from which it is apparant that the time of the life of the Lord Iesus on earth was well knowen to the auncient Fathers Whereof yet the Diuines of our time doo so dispute that a matter of it selfe plaine enough they doo so enwrap and infolde that it is very hard for them to vnloose themselues from their trifling lets Therefore in the eighteenth yeare of Tiberius and the three and thirtieth of Christ the Lord we haue concluded the seuentie seuens of Daniel which to what yeares of the Olympiades or to the Citie of Rome or to the creation of the world they are to bee referred may most certainly be gathered out of the continuance and comparison of times determined by the authoritie of holie Scripture as is noted in the Table But the eighteenth yere of Tiberius is the fourescore 4. yeare from the building of Rome but of the world created three thousand nine hundred sixtie one which notation of time to be diligentlie considered and not to be ouerpassed careles or slothfullie the oracles of the Prophets concerning these matters doo declare But so diligent a care and carefulnesse which the Scripture vseth in noting downe these times shuld sharpen our diligence and shake out of vs all sluggishnes wherefore there is no reason why this our paines should be despised of anie or misliked seeing it consisteth and is grounded on the word of GOD and not on the traditions or opinions of men But by this we vnderstād that the knowledge of these times do chieflie concerne vs because they were written for vs who are come to those acceptable times to that grace which we haue also obteined which trulie now lōg agoe hath been prophecied by the oracles and foretellings of the Prophets For as the Apostle Peter saith in the first chapter of his first epistle Of this saluation the Prophets enquired searched who prophecied of the grace to come on you searching in what time or after what season the spirit of Christ which was in thē did foretel the suffrings which should come to Christ and his glorie to come to whom it was reuealed that not for themselues but for vs they did showe those things which now are declared vnto vs by thē who preach the Gospel vnto vs the holie spirit hauing been sent from heauen which things the Angels desire to behold So Peter the Apostle commendeth the greatnes of the grace communicated vnto vs in his time foretold and foreended by the Prophets that the Angels also doo admire it and doo desire to behold the complement thereof whereof that the elect be not defrauded wee must striue by all meanes The fruite also which floweth from these times is not to be omitted because the Iewes by the demonstration of them may be cōuinced to yeeld yet at the length vnto Christ and rest themselues in Christianitie and leaue off to blaspheame To which purpose wee must not onelie ioyne Daniels seuens but also Iaacobs prophecie which is in this sort in the 49. of Genesis 10. The Scepter shall not be taken from Iuda nor a Ruler out of his loynes till Silo come that is his son to wit Iuda and he shalbe the expectation of the Gētiles For that this ver is thus to be interpreted the Rabbines also confesse the truth compelling them for they say Silo signifieth Beno that is His sonne which is the Messias Christ the Lord the sonne of Iuda For Christ the Lord rose from Iuda as is confirmed and taught by the Scriptures Heb. 8. 14. To this the Prophecie and testimonie of Aggey the Prophet beeing added is of no small force in which the ancient Rabbines acknowledge the presence of Christ the Lord to bee signified with the which hee was to beautefie the second Temple which place is cited out of the 2. Aggey the 8. And I will mooue all Nations and the desired shall come to all the